Tanzania sets 2040 target to eradicate sheep, goat disease

DAR ES SALAAM: ERADICATING Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), a highly contagious disease affecting sheep and goats, has become a key priority for Tanzania as the country seeks to protect livestock, household incomes and food security while reducing the economic losses associated with animal deaths and restricted access to markets.

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious viral disease that mainly affects goats and sheep, causing severe illness and deaths and threatening the livelihoods of communities that depend on small ruminants.

The disease is particularly significant for rural households because sheep and goats are not only sources of food and income but also valuable assets that can be sold quickly to meet urgent family needs.

Its control therefore has implications beyond animal health, extending to livelihoods, women and youth who depend on small ruminants, as well as regional livestock trade.

For Tanzania, achieving eradication will require sustained vaccination, stronger surveillance and early detection, but also cooperation with neighbouring countries because livestock and communities regularly move across national borders.

Regional animal health authorities have consequently been promoting coordinated surveillance, risk-based vaccination, information sharing and preparedness as part of efforts to interrupt transmission across shared livestock systems.

Speaking during the Regional PPR Buffer Ecosystems Workshop in Dar es Salaam, Deputy Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Ms Ng’wasi Kamani said Tanzania had set a strategic target to eradicate PPR by 2040 while strengthening cooperation with Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

“There are diseases that we have managed to eradicate in the past through efforts such as these, for example rinderpest disease, and we expect that if we continue well and sustain the efforts we have started, we will eradicate this sheep and goat disease by 2040,” Ms Kamani said.

Ms Kamani said Tanzania had previously faced livestock diseases that caused deaths, economic losses and difficulties in accessing regional and international markets, adding that the country could draw lessons from diseases it had successfully eradicated in the past.

She said the international eradication timeline for PPR had initially been set at 2030 but had subsequently been extended by another 10 years, giving countries additional time to strengthen their preparations and interventions.

“The initial target was 2030, but the international community agreed to extend the period by 10 years so that we can continue and strengthen our efforts and preparations to completely eradicate this disease,” she said.

Ms Kamani said PPR was particularly damaging because it affects small ruminants that form an important part of the economy of many Tanzanian households.

“Women own many goats and sheep, which have become assets that people can quickly sell when an emergency arises. We get school fees, we get money for basic needs and things like that,” she said.

She said the loss of such animals through disease could therefore directly undermine household resilience, explaining why the government had a direct interest in supporting efforts to control and eventually eradicate PPR.

The Deputy Minister also thanked the African UnionInter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) for recognising President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s contribution to the fight against PPR during the regional meeting.

According to Ms Kamani, President Samia had allocated more than 216bn/- for a national livestock vaccination and identification campaign, with more than 16 million goats and sheep vaccinated during the first year.

“This is a five-year campaign, and we have already set aside more than 30bn/- for this financial year. This funding will support us in the second phase,” she said.

She added that more than 50 million livestock had already been vaccinated during the first phase, with the government targeting vaccination coverage of more than 70 per cent of the country’s livestock population within the five-year campaign period.

Senior Veterinary Officer, Dr Daniel Mdetele, who represented the Director of Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, said the importance of eliminating PPR was closely linked to the economic value of sheep and goats, particularly for women and young people.

The disease, he said, required Tanzania to strengthen its own control measures while working with neighbouring countries to prevent infections from crossing borders.

“First, we were looking at how we can reduce infections of this disease within our country, but we also need to look at how we can cooperate with neighbouring countries to prevent its spread,” Dr Mdetele said.

He added, “if we protect ourselves while other countries with which we share borders continue to have the disease, it will not be meaningful.”

His remarks reflected one of the central issues discussed during the Regional PPR Buffer Ecosystems Workshop, which brought together animal health experts and senior veterinary officials from Angola, Burundi, the DRC, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia from September 14 to 16.

The participants examined epidemiological evidence, assessed shared PPR risks and discussed how livestock movement and interaction among communities along national borders can contribute to the spread of the disease.

Dr Mdetele said communities living in border areas frequently interact, making cooperation between countries essential if efforts to control PPR are to succeed.

“As I explained earlier, the disease has been able to spread due to interactions among our communities living along the borders. Therefore, if all countries cooperate, we have a greater opportunity not only to prevent the disease but also to protect ourselves from spreading it within our country,” he said.

The campaign includes subsidised vaccination against PPR, which Ms Kamani said had already generated benefits through improved livestock information and efforts to reduce deaths associated with the disease.

The regional workshop also provided a platform for countries to strengthen practical cooperation around surveillance, vaccination, diagnosis, data sharing and coordinated response.

AU-IBAR says the Dar es Salaam meeting was specifically intended to strengthen cross-border surveillance, coordinated risk-based vaccination, reliable diagnostics, timely information sharing and regional preparedness.

The technical outcomes of the Regional PPR Buffer Ecosystems Workshop are expected to inform the next stage of trilateral cooperation between Tanzania, Angola and the DRC, including a proposed Trilateral PPR Buffer Zone Memorandum of Understanding provisionally scheduled for signing on October 2, 2026.

The workshop was jointly organised by the African Union-Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources, the PPR Secretariat and the Support Towards the Operationalisation of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (STOSAR II) Project, with funding from the European Union and collaboration from regional and technical partners.

STOSAR II is implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community Secretariat and supports SADC Member States in preventing and controlling transboundary animal diseases, including PPR.

For Tanzania, the eradication effort now combines a national vaccination campaign with a wider regional strategy designed to ensure that progress made inside the country is not undermined by continued transmission across borders.

The approach places surveillance, vaccination, rapid response and cooperation at the centre of the country’s long-term effort to eliminate PPR and protect the livestockbased livelihoods of millions of people.

The post Tanzania sets 2040 target to eradicate sheep, goat disease appeared first on Daily News.